1. Field
This disclosure relates to networks with multiple gateways, more particularly to sharing network resources across multiple gateways.
2. Background
A gateway is any entity that allows a user to enter a network. For example, a point-of-presence (POP) may have several universal gateways through which users may access a network via a dial-up connection. The entry is normally obtained through a port. In wholesale networks, the use of the port may be associated with one of several different customers.
A wholesale network typically comprises a set of equipment and lines that are all connected, including POPs. Several different customers, such as Internet Service Providers (ISP) may lease the network. The lease is generally governed by a guarantee of a minimum number of ports for a particular cost. These leases will be referred to as service level agreements (SLA), which may also govern the particular mix of traffic allowed for a particular customer, as well as overflow resources.
The SLA may provide two different levels of service for each customer. One level guarantees a fixed access count and another level provides access to a pool of shared resources. Currently, all of the SLAs are controlled and administered by one server somewhere in the network. A single server allows the network to communicate allocation of shared resources across the network. However, the single server may become a chokepoint, as it cannot handle the call volumes expected within larger networks. With the advent of any-service-any-port networks, where the network may provide a mix of voice and dial traffic in very high volumes, having one server for port policy management will cause problems.
The management of the SLAs may be distributed across the network, where several different network devices handle the processing of the administrative tasks associated with enforcement of the SLAs. However, the allocation of the shared resource cannot be independently controlled on each customer SLA servers, since the shared resource allocation decisions must be shared across all affected customers. Therefore, distributing port policy decisions that are shared across resources must be handled differently.